 |
Keyon Brooks made his way to the sideline, yanked his helmet off and let the frustration out.
"How are we supposed to win a championship if we can't even stop the second team!" the big defensive lineman yelled in disgust.
South Carolina State University head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough praised his team's defense for its performance in Friday's practice, but in Sunday's scrimmage there wasn't much praise being handed out to anyone on the defensive side of the ball.
On the bright side, the South Carolina State offense -- especially the second unit against Brooks and the Bulldogs' first-team defense -- looked good. Actually, it was Malcolm Long and the Bulldogs' first-team offense that got the ball rolling, mounting an 11-play scrimmage opening drive that was capped by a short touchdown pass from Long to tight end Octavius Darby. While Long and the starters remained consistent throughout the scrimmage, backup quarterback DeWain Clark and the second team offense were explosive. After turning the ball over on four downs on its first possession, Clark and the second-team were backed up and given the ball again. On the third play of that series, Clark connected with tight end Sean Lampkin over the middle for a 60-yard touchdown. Shortly after, Clark tossed another touchdown, this one 40 yards, to receiver Semaj Moody.
A few series later, Clark threw a quick slant to Oliver "Tre" Young for another 60-yard score. The Bulldogs second team scored on three of its first four possessions, hence Brooks frustration.
"That is a little bit unusual," Pough said. "Defensively, we didn't play as well as we had been playing up to today. I think a large part of that had something to do with the guys we had missing, especially those guys in the secondary. Now we see who is important. We were without Terrence Allen, Markee Hamlin and Marshall McFadden and all of those guys are pretty integral to what we do.
"But, ordinarily when the first-team offense is out there they don't have their way with our second-team defense. So, it was unusual that the second team offense did as well as they did. DeWain (Clark) threw the ball in some pretty good spots, and those guys caught some balls."
By the time Young raced down the vistor's sideline and into the end zone with the pass from Clark, the defense's frustrations had already become evident to the several hundred fans who showed up to watch with the culmination being a shoving match between offensive lineman Johnny Culbreath and defensive lineman Joe Council. Pough interjected himself in that one and threw in a few choice words that drew laughter from the crowd. After the scrimmage, he scolded his team for "trash talking," and told them the practice had to stop.
The defense did slow both offensive teams before halftime of the scrimmage and into the beginning of the second half until Pough threw in a curve ball. After giving defensive coordinator Mike Adams a heads up to speed up the play calling, Pough had the offense operate out of a "hurry up" package. Several times, the scheme caught Bulldog defenders out of position.
"There is some gamesmanship going on between the (offense and defense)," Pough said. "The offense was running a lot of early-count play and the defensive guys got caught.
"It's a good way to make them aware of what the possibilities are and what some people may do to us."
Adams agreed.
"It was a good test," he said. "The great thing was, we set up today, we had the coaches in place in the press box and going, and we were getting the personnel down and distance and getting a call in mind. We wanted to get that process down on defense, and we had some personnel issues, but it was a good experience."
To the defense's credit, the offense slowed in the second half, scoring just once on a run by reserve tailback Travil Jamison. Wide receiver Phillip Morris dropped a deep, would-be touchdown, from Long across the middle late in the scrimmage.
"I think they could have kept attacking our secondary," Adams said. "We did settle down, but they wanted to work on their run game some it seems. When we are given that we can load the box and play the run game well."
Despite the offense's production, Pough remained reserved after the scrimmage.
"Some days you come out, and you think you are really a hot-shot deal," he said. "You know, you think you are really special, and then the next day you come out, and you look like you have never seen the game before. It is that way for the spring, the next time we come out the defense will probably get the better of the offense so it has a kind of a back-and-forth kind of way of playing its way out over the spring. Whatever group works good the first time, it generally works out where the next group gets a chance to get back next."
Other notes from Sunday's scrimmage
Schedule change -- The Bulldogs will not practice Monday. Pough said he and his staff would work late into Sunday night grading film from the scrimmage.
"We will go Wednesday, Friday and Saturday," he said. "And, then we will come back and go next Monday, Wednesday and Friday."
Ford staying in the garage -- Starting tailback Will Ford saw limited action in the contest, and Pough said he will remain limited throughout the spring.
"I see no reason to beat him up during the spring," he said. "He wants to (play), he is a tough guy, but he has a little bit of a turf toe, and I would like for him to get that thing back to 100 percent. Stay on top of that...I just don't want to take a chance of beating him up. Football is not like what it used to be. You don't get a whole lot contact anyway during practice times. The spring maybe a little more than the preseason. You get to a point when you have a skill guy, especially a running back that can play a little bit, you have to take care of him because you can only get some many licks and carries."
Banged up Bulldogs -- The defense was without several key starters in the scrimmage. Linebackers Markus James and David Erby are both sitting out the spring, but defensive backs Phillip Allen and Markee Hamlin and athlete Marshall McFadden all sat out Sunday's scrimmage. Brooks left with a neck injury that was iced down after being hit along the home sidelines in the first half of the scrimmage.
Pough happy with new coaches -- Pough said he was pleased with the way his coaching staff is coming together in the preseason.
"Those guys are kind of getting the feel of how we do things, and how things need to be done in a situation such as this. I think it has really be a cohesive group. I have enjoyed having them, and we will have to see how it goes once we play for k.jpg."
T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be contacted via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.